Ware of the Week

Hand-Painted: Chinoiserie

Manufacture date: 1600 – 1830

Vessels: Teaware or Holloware

Handpainted chinoiserie motifs show up on some of the earliest ceramics we discover in Ontario, and they are always a pleasure to discover. These early Asian-themed motifs appear most often on tin-enamelled earthenware, creamware, and pearlware. Chinoiserie is an early example of globalization, as British ceramic manufacturers attempted to replicate the popular motifs and colourways of the ceramics being imported from China.

Chinoiserie, as defined above, is never present on Refined White Earthenware or later wares.